Grunfeld players, which move in this position?

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Avatar of SmallerCircles

There are three options, Nc6, Nd7, and Bd7. The engine suggests Nc6 but wonder if Nd7 might be better. How would you play it?

Avatar of justbefair
SmallerCircles wrote:

There are three options, Nc6, Nd7, and Bd7. The engine suggests Nc6 but wonder if Nd7 might be better. How would you play it?

Avatar of SmallerCircles

Do you have a preference for one of those moves? I see that Nd7 is the highest scoring move proportionally there but also the third most common in GM play and the move the engine likes the least. I was wondering if anyone had a sense of which move helps black play for a win in practical terms.

Avatar of justbefair
SmallerCircles wrote:

Do you have a preference for one of those moves? I see that Nd7 is the highest scoring move proportionally there but also the third most common in GM play and the move the engine likes the least. I was wondering if anyone had a sense of which move helps black play for a win in practical terms.

There is no winning move. All three moves were played by masters.  There are hundreds of master games shown in that line in the database. I would play through a bunch of them to see how they went.

Avatar of tygxc

Nobody can tell for sure which one is better.
The position with 28 men is still too complicated to trust the engine evaluation.

Avatar of ConfusedGhoul

Svidler suggests Nc6 in his course but I have no idea why, this line is very drawish and it often ends in a perpetual. Check out Akobian-Svidler Grand Swiss 2019 for an example

Avatar of SmallerCircles

Thanks for that particular game reference. I'm reading that Nd7, despite the engine eval being almost +1 retains the dynamism of the opening. That Akobian-Svidler game gives me the impression that maybe Nc6 is the top engine move specifically because it is hard to lose but leads to draws. Good info.

Avatar of ShamusMcFlannigan

I rarely get this position, but Nc6 makes a lot of sense to me here.  White isn't actually threatening to double my pawns.  If they did, I would just get the bishop pair and be able to hit d4 twice (once with each c pawn).  It also leaves my LSB flexible (might end up on g4) and keeps my queen in contact with d4.

Avatar of alphaous
Jai4chess wrote:

Kf8 😆 just kidding...

That is so inaccurate. Instead Black should play the stunning Qd7!!!!!

Avatar of alphaous

In all seriousness, Nc6 looks good because the d file stays open, and it allows the thematic Bg4 with pressure on the center.